personality scarcely signifies anything more than shining white teeth and freedom from body odour and emotions
This has strong connections to influencers nowadays - what does it mean that they're relatable or likable if all we see of them is a facade? what does it say about us that we can adore something that is a false image? how is it that we project personality and naturalness onto things that are so obviously curated and rigid in style?
Laughter, whether conciliatory or terrible, always occurs when some fear passes
we find pleasure in the passage of fear. what do we fear when we look for escape in the media? Capitalism?
and the “natural” faces of Texas girls are like the successful models by whom Hollywood has typecast them
what is natural? who defines it? if it is indeed media which defines what is natural then our definition is wrong
Works of art are ascetic and unashamed; the culture industry is pornographic and prudish
Antithesis/duality, almost hypocritical. Creates a false sexual ideal on television, but in doing so, removes it from reality and promotes real people to not do it
Style considered as mere aesthetic regularity is a romantic dream of the past.
I wonder what this reference to romanticism is. Perhaps it is referencing his exploration of sexuality and style
The more intensely and flawlessly his techniques duplicate empirical objects, the easier it is today for the illusion to prevail that the outside world is the straightforward continuation of that presented on the screen.
We see a reality on TV and falsely believe it to be our own. Reminds me of Hall's Miami Vice excerpt
Every detail is so firmly stamped with sameness that nothing can appear which is not marked at birth, or does not meet with approval at first sight.
As we recycle what is given to us, it cannot be recycled if the object does not immediately please us. We look for quick fixes and hits in our media then. Perhaps this lends its way to trend cycles
Their prearranged harmony is a mockery of what had to be striven after in the great bourgeois works of art
Media has become obvious. Is it wrong for an artist to know its end before starting a piece of work?
The former still allowed the subscriber to play the role of subject, and was liberal. The latter is democratic: it turns all participants into listeners and authoritatively subjects them to broadcast programs which are all exactly the same
I find the connection to liberalism and democracy important here. I wonder what the authors are suggesting by saying that the democratic system of media is actually authoritative
The people at the top are no longer so interested in concealing monopoly: as its violence becomes more open, so its power grows
it's interesting to note how capitalism and political movements have contributed to this phenomenon. advertising is blatant. I wonder what it says about the current face of media if even in 1944, monopoly in media was evident
reduction of reading to consumption
I wonder how to relate the previous ideas of consumption, quality, and taste to these ideas of boredom towards the modern unreadable text; I'm drawn to the idea that we enjoy what is easy and thus consume works rather than "execute them" or criticize by interacting with the text
“quality”
quality is defined as a comparison to similar things, and comparison would then be ruled by someone's subjective tastes
Scripture
this idea of Scripture being given meaning past or against what the author wrote is interesting and has meaningful connections to present conflicts; many individuals may use bible passages to justify or condemn actions in a way that clashes with what the author may have originally intended; in a broader sense, a religion has grown from the bible, but it is not the authors of the bible who are praised
combinative operation
I appreciate Barthes' continued use of traditionally scientific and literary terms in his description
Newtonian
Newtonian, perhaps a reference to classical physics and undeniable laws of nature which are challenging to confront/question
observer
reminds me of Paul Tran's "The Cave," to actualize the interaction of reader/observer/idea and to celebrate the grander idea which evolves from that